Competition Act

Marginal note:False or misleading representation — sender or subject matter information

• 52.01 (1) No person shall, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, knowingly or recklessly send or cause to be sent a false or misleading representation in the sender information or subject matter information of an electronic message.

• Marginal note:False or misleading representation — electronic message

  (2) No person shall, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, knowingly or recklessly send or cause to be sent in an electronic message a representation that is false or misleading in a material respect.

• Marginal note:False or misleading representation — locator

  (3) No person shall, for the purpose of promoting, directly or indirectly, any business interest or the supply or use of a product, knowingly or recklessly make or cause to be made a false or misleading representation in a locator.

• Marginal note:Proof of deception not required

  (4) For greater certainty, in establishing that any of subsections (1) to (3) was contravened, it is not necessary to prove that any person was deceived or misled.

• Marginal note:General impression to be considered

  (5) In a prosecution for a contravention of any of subsections (1) to (3), the general impression conveyed by a representation as well as its literal meaning are to be taken into account.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (6) Any person who contravenes any of subsections (1) to (3) is guilty of an offence and

  • (a) liable on conviction on indictment to a fine in the discretion of the court or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years, or to both; or

  • (b) liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $200,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both.

• Marginal note:Reviewable conduct

  (7) Nothing in Part VII.1 is to be read as excluding the application of this section to the making of a representation that constitutes reviewable conduct within the meaning of that Part.

• Marginal note:Where application made under Part VII.1

  (8) No proceedings may be commenced under this section against a person on the basis of facts that are the same or substantially the same as the facts on the basis of which an order against that person is sought under Part VII.1.

• Marginal note:Interpretation

  (9) For the purposes of this section,

  • (a) an electronic message is considered to have been sent once its transmission has been initiated; and

  • (b) it is immaterial whether the electronic address to which an electronic message is sent exists or whether an electronic message reaches its intended destination.